A Poem for Nurses,
That’s what you see.
A poem for the community,
Where stories are free.
This poem, is a poem,
Both short and succinct.
Without names or identities,
No clues to be inked.
Care in the community,
Is our career aim.
It’s diverse, eclectic,
With people, none the same.
Their homes are in houses,
On boats or packing sheds.
Their lives are individual,
Tangled in webs.
We visit – We nurse,
Regarding their places.
The community nurse nurses,
Disregarding their status.
Home visits are brief,
In the lives of our fold.
Yet through Community Nursing,
We ‘travel’ the globe.
All patients I think of,
Have a story to tell.
So let’s begin quickly,
And on sadness don’t dwell.
There’s Bob with new hips,
After years of hard yakka.
The surgeon installed them,
After much banging and clatter.
Next is fierce Lucy,
Who is 90 years old.
She tipples her whisky,
And will not be told.
Connie, sweet Connie,
With her chocolates and more.
Life habits to adjust,
Now Diabetes at her door.
Not far down the road,
On a bumpy old track.
There’s a cranky old farmer,
We refer to as ‘Just Jack.’
Now Jack has leg ulcers,
Which persist and won’t go.
He’s tried all home remedies,
Of Great Aunt So and So.
“Dem legs are so painful,
So itchy, damn sore”
With cajoling and patience,
We aim to do more.
On Thursdays we see Bluey,
To check his prosthesis.
Whilst we talk he does listen,
As Community Nurse teaches.
Now Des on his ride-on,
Mowing the slope.
A last minute decision,
Sealed his fate.
It pinned and bruised him,
His leg com- part- ment- alised.
Des was an urgency,
Before everyone’s eyes.
Emergency surgery,
a hospital stay.
A referral to Community,
saw Des on his way.
6 weeks being 42 days,
The size of 10 peas.
The wound it healed,
With Negative Pressure Wound Therapy.
Life’s full of surprises
We all know that-
Yet a Community Nurse knows more…………..
More secrets of life,
Than most ever hear.
Our role quite unique,
Privileged and clear.
Now it is time to fold,
With 3 hip- hip- hoorays.
This Community Nurses’ prose
For……………………….
International Nurses’ Day.
